Re: [ontolog-forum] Tighter control of ontolog forum?

[paola.dimaio@xxxxxxxxx]

Andreas

Unfortunately, the level of education and the rank in academic institutions does not imply social or ethical maturity.

thanks for making that statement, which may well be useful reminder for those of use who think to be above the rules of decent conduct, professional as well as civil.

I also tend to agree that there is a clear distinction between involuntary brushes and opinion clashes (I am sure ignorance, or relative ignorance can be irritating especially when is persistent, to the point of becoming offensive) and clear, unwarranted personal attacks aimed to discredit someone who may be simply prodding certain scientific assumptions or showing the same under the light of a different disciplinary paradigm.

In the Law,  gratuitous ninsults especially when they can cause damage to a professional career, are called defamation (libel or 'slander' not sure under what online statements come) and can be pursued legally, and lots and lots of backside claimed, should someone take things seriously, especially when they belong to a professional association, say IEEE or ACM.
 Writs can be issued fairly quickly on such circumstances.(first amendment I think)

nice story here
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/hilden/20060117.html


Luckily it does not seem to happen that often,  as this forum is full of jolly good fellows, and during heated debates, its normal to fall on slippery dogmantic slopes and even losing  a bit of one's temper for doing so.

What really makes the freedom worth, is that however harsh gratuitous insults and offenses may be, they are public, voluntary, written,  permanent statements which  expose the nature of people who author them, especially when they come from respected members of the community, as opposed to juniors who can get away more easily with being childish 

I am not sure what action should be taken,  just pulling down a pietous veil over such incidents and consider them  as possibly caused by temporary insanity (or senile dementia), seems like the going attitude here, and would get them away in court.

What I have learned on this forum, is that when someone is too out of line,
thy will receive a lot of off line mails from people who feel offended
even if such statement is not directed to them, or consider the
statement out of line, somehow a form of tacit moderation, which seems
to work fine in principle

Should abuse become systematic, and disrupt the open and friendly discourse that otherwise takes place among the majority of other members, then  if not group moderation,  action would   be a legal one

PDM

On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 1:38 AM, Tolk, Andreas <atolk@xxxxxxx> wrote:

Paola and all,

I think that someone who "deliberately and gratuitously insults other forum members" or "openly insult others'" violates not only the code of ethics but also the principles for professional conduct. Unfortunately, the level of education and the rank in academic institutions does not imply social or ethical maturity. I am quite sure that I am myself guilty of having insulted someone with my statements (maybe currently even am in the process of doing so), but the "deliberately and gratuitously" is what raises my concern.

It is OK to openly discuss ideas, and there should be no limiting factor. If an idea is stupid or not of interest it will simply dry out over time. It is also OK to say - or better prove - that someone is wrong. No-one is served by something that is wrong. The open discussion has been the core of academic progress, and academic disputes are healthy for the discipline. However, it is not OK to attack others in an unprofessional way and to personally attack someone.

My two pence ... my question: do we need to take action here?

Andreas

==================== ;-)
Andreas Tolk, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Engineering Management & Systems Engineering
Old Dominion University

---

From: ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of paola.dimaio@xxxxxxxxx [paola.dimaio@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 11:30 AM
To: [ontolog-forum]
Subject: Re: [ontolog-forum] Tighter control of ontolog forum?

Andreas

just as you are the subject

After getting deliberatelly and gratuitously insulted by a forum member on a couple of occasions, I complained to the mods who said that anyone can say what they want in this forum, cause its free place

 It takes quite a lot of personal restraint (hold me ...hold me..) to provide graceful answers to insults, and to keep on enjoying the exchange,

 should the forum policy be revised, I would hope that 'free to openly insult others' will be disallowed ....

long live the far west

PDM

On Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 11:14 PM, Tolk, Andreas <atolk@xxxxxxx> wrote:

I see the ontolog forum to be something more special than Wiki. Whoever is part of the ontolog group went thru a type of "screening." If one of us really starts to spam the system or misuse it or violates the code of ethics by insulting others, etc. he or she can still be excluded.

I prefer ontolog to remain un-moderated and open assuming everyone playing by the rules until proven otherwise.

All the best

Andreas

==================== ;-)
Andreas Tolk, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Engineering Management & Systems Engineering
Old Dominion University

 

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-- 
Paola Di Maio 
**********************************
Burning Down the House
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozc70JPGRMQ

The times are achanging
http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/times-they-are-changin

Take me to the river
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=QmEBlrRRMBQ

Forthcoming

i-Semantics 2009, 2 - 4 September 2009, Graz, Austria. www.i-semantics.tugraz.at

SEMAPRO 2009, Malta
http://www.iaria.org/conferences2009/RegistrationSEMAPRO09.html


ISD Lab
*********************************************
School of IT
MFU.ac.th
**********************************************


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